clutching at straws
by denuit
Summary: au. It's not spectacular, the moment she realizes that she is falling in love with Naruto; it's simple, like the light that seeps into a room when the door is left slightly ajar.
1. sunset

**Warnings:** _hipster!Naruto_ and _introvert!Hinata;_ maybe some ooc-ness (i think...?); messy grammar, strange sentences and the like.

Enjoy.:)

R&R

* * *

_._

_clutching at straws  
_

_._

_oo1_

_._

**Because watching the sun set is mainstream.**

_._

* * *

Hinata first notices him while plucking a daisy.

He is laughing loudly, head thrown back, arms hugging his tummy. Wearing an orange shirt that catches everyone's attention and a pair of black skin-tight, washed-out, ripped jeans does not help at all. Hinata, along with other students that are eating lunch outside, stare at him. When he stops, wiping away tears from his eyes, the blond haired boy glares at the people that stare at him and everyone returns to doing whatever they were doing before he interrupted them. Everyone, except Hinata, that is; she's still looking—staring – at him and when he directs his attention at her and gives her a cheeky grin, all white teeth and gums, sky blue eyes sparkling, Hinata ducks her head in embarrassment, angry red painting her pale cheeks. She tucks the daisy between the pages of her sketchbook and rushes back inside.

The next time she sees him, she is doing research for her calligraphy class in the library. A loud voice distracts her and she looks up to see his back, blond unruly hair sticking in all directions. He's talking to someone over the phone as far as she can tell; the librarian scolds him and he apologizes profusely before hanging up. When he turns around, Hinata quickly glances away. A book lands a few inches in front of hers and she blinks up, alarmed, to see him sit down in front of her. She stares dumbfounded before standing up abruptly, gathering her things and walking away, not sparing the blond another glance.

"No, no, no," Hinata mumbles, searching for her favorite purple pen in her pencil case.

"What is it?" Sakura, the girl in her calligraphy class asks.

"I can't find my pen." Hinata takes out all her books out from her bag, only to find that the pen is not inside. She sighs dejected and puts her books back. She must have left it in the library.

"The purple one?" Sakura asks.

Hinata nods. What a bad day. First she's all awkward and embarrassing around a handsome boy then she loses her favorite pen.

"That was your favorite right?"

"How do you know?" Hinata turns to look at the pink haired.

"You always use it," Sakura points, smiling, "you bought it from that vintage shop downtown, right? I'm going there after classes, if you want you can come with me, if I recall correctly they had one in purple and one in orange. Maybe the orange one is still there for you to buy."

"Thank you, Sakura-san, but I really likes the purple one. I'll try looking for it in the library, I'm almost sure that I left it there." Hinata smiles shyly.

"Do you want me to help you look for it?" Sakura asks right before the professor comes in.

"You'll do that?" Sakura nods, grinning. "Thank you, Sakura-san!"

"Ms. Hyuuga, is there something you want to share with us?" Sarutobi, professor of calligraphy asks.

"No, professor, it's nothing of import." Hinata says, blushing and Sakura pinches her cheek when the professor turns away, whispering 'Cute!'.

When they go back to the library they find the pen and Hinata clutches it close to her chest exhaling in relief.

"You're weird!" Sakura laughs and Hinata's cheeks turn pink. "You wanna come to that vintage store with me, Hinata?"

"I'm sorry, but I already promised my cousin that I'll have lunch with him," Hinata apologize but Sakura just smiles and says, "Maybe another day, then."

While she has lunch with her cousin, Neji, Hinata keeps thinking about the blond haired boy – she should stop calling him boy, when he's obviously a young man.

"You're awfully distracted today, Hinata," Neji points out when they leave the barbeque place near campus. "Did something happen?"

"N-nothing happened, Neji-niisan," Hinata stutters. "R-really." The stuttering and the blushing beg to differ.

And while her cousin knows that she is not telling the truth he doesn't ask anymore because Neji knows, that Hinata will tell him sooner or later.

"I think I made a new friend today," Hinata says, changing the subject. It's not like she has something to hide from her cousin but she is not yet comfortable to talk about _him_, she doesn't even know he's name yet.

"Really now," Neji says excited. Hinata has never been good at making friends, her shy and thoughtful personality making it even harder for her.

"Mhm," Hinata mumbles, "She's minoring in calligraphy too! And she helped me find my purple pen!"

Neji smiles fondly at his cousin and ruffles her hair. "That's great, Hinata!"

.

"Hinata!"

Said girl turns around and sees Sakura waving at her. She shyly waves back.

"Who's that?" Kiba, one of Hinata's few friends asks.

"That's Sakura-san, the girl I told you about."

Kiba stares at the pink haired running towards them. "What a hipster," he says at last. Pink hair, really?

"Kiba-kun..."

"Hinata-chan, good morning!' Sakura greets when she's in front of the two. "And good morning to you too!"

"'morning," Kiba grumps. " I'll see you later, Hinata." And walks away before Hinata can say anything.

"What are you up to?" Sakura asks, staring at Hinata.

"I'm heading to class?" Hinata is playing with her fingers; she always does that when she's nervous.

"Great, let's go together!" Sakura beams and takes Hinata by her hand, leading her into the building.

Before entering the classroom Sakura makes Hinata promise that they'll have lunch together today and Hinata agrees, heart beating fast in her chest. She always has lunch alone, sometimes with Kiba and Shino when they are not busy, so having lunch with Sakura is an accomplishment by itself.

The hours can not skip buy fast enough and Hinata is impatient for the first time in many years. During one of her breaks, she takes out her sketchbook in an attempt to ease her racing mind. What comes to life is the sketch of a a bo—young man—messy hair and big grin. Hinata is shocked at what and quickly closes her sketchbook.

When the awaited moment finally comes, Sakura waits for her in the hallway. Hinata smiles and follows Sakura outside('We should enjoy the good weather while we still can, Hinata-chan!'). Sakura leads her to spot under a tree where a dark haired male student with a very uncommon hairstyle and dressed in an all black outfit is already unpacking his lunch. Sakura pecks him on the lips and introduces him as Sasuke, her boyfriend.

"Where is Naruto?" Sakura asks, handing Sasuke a napkin.

"He said he'll be late."

Sakura then turns her attention to Hinata. She asks a lot of unnecessary questions, from what Hinata's favorite color is to what her favorite brand of cookies is. Her rant is interrupted when someone throws himself next to Sasuke. Hinata looks up from her cinnamon roll and gapes. Apparently the friend that they were waiting for was the blond haired young man. This time he's wearing a blue washed out hoodie and black skin-tight ripped jeans. Hinata can only pray that he doesn't recognizes her.

"I hate that Orochimaru!" His voice is a little bit too loud and Sakura shushes him. He whines a few seconds more before stopping abruptly, pointing a finger at Hinata.

"Who are you?"

Hinata feels like fainting, seriously. Blood rushes to her cheeks and she can not remember her name.

"I – I'm ...," she stutters, glancing down at the cinnamon roll in her hands. _Oh god._

"She's the girl I was talking about yesterday, Naruto," Sakura interferes and Hinata truly loves her, "Hinata-chan!"

"The girl with the pretty eyes!" Naruto exclaims and extends his hand grinning his foxy grin. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, soon to be best game designer the world has ever known!"

Hinata wipes her hand onto a napkin before taking Naruto's hand into her own. "N-nice to meet you." Naruto's hand is big and warm—a little sweaty, with long fingers and smooth skin; his shake is firm yet gentle. Hinata glimpses up and their eyes lock for a brief moment before she looks away, nervous and letting go of Naruto's hand hurriedly.

Hinata continues to peer at Naruto from the corners of her eyes and when she finishes her cinnamon bun, she gathers her things rather quickly, apologizing that she had forgotten she promised to bring her cousin a book.

"See you around!" She hears Naruto shouting and her face feels on fire.

Hinata rushes to the library and falls to her knees between the History and German Literature section. Her breathing is ragged; this is not good.

"Hinata?!"

Hinata turns around and sees an alarmed Neji rushing to her side. "What happened?! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Neji-niisan," Hinata breaths, "Don't worry."

"Did something happen with Sakura?" Neji asks.

"No!" Hinata insists.

Neji helps her up and questions her about everything but she just shrugs it off, keeps saying that she is fine.

She avoids Sakura and Naruto and Sasuke for the rest of the day – week. She paints rainbows and suns in the corner of pages with the kids from the kindergarten, she teaches them a new song and they even go to the zoo.

.

The next Friday, Sakura waits for her in the hallway.

"Hinata!"

"Sakura-san...," Hinata fidgets, fighting the urge to run away.

"Why are you avoiding me?" Sakura cries, clinging to Hinata's arm.

"I'm sorry, Sakura-san , I was really busy," Hinata murmurs. Why is Sakura so insistent?

"Are you free this afternoon? Wanna hang out?" Sakura looks at Hinata with her bright green eyes, full of hope and Hinata is practically unable to say no.

"Great!" Sakura beams, speaking so quickly Hinata has a hard time understanding her. "Naruto and Sasuke are tagging along! It's gonna be awesome! Do you mind giving me your number?"

Hinata is shocked, alarmed, nervous—feels like fainting—but in the end she gives Sakura her number.

"I'll call you later then!"

.

Hinata enters the convenience store while on her way home and buys oreo's, m&m's, fruit candy and cinnamon rolls. She eats them while waiting for Sakura's call.

It's 4:23 when her phone vibrates on the desk. Sakura is all bubbly when she explains that they are going to mystery trip, that they'll pick her up at 5:30 and that she should wear casual clothes.

Hinata calls Neji after that and cries over the phone for almost half an hour before Neji can calm her down and assure her that _everything will be alright, Hinata, you're making new friends._ When she hangs up Hinata's eyes are puffy and in attempt to un-puff them she puts cucumber slices on her eyelids.

Sakura calls her to come down at exactly 5:30. Hinata needs a few seconds to steady her breath before going out.

When she gets into the backseat of the car she's greeted by Naruto's smiling face; Hinata's face is burning. Appearently they picked to go east of Konoha.

During the ride they all laugh and discuss strange topics while listening to even stranger music. So Hinata was indeed befriending a group of hipsters.

Sasuke pulls into the parking lot of a random restaurant when Sakura whines about being hungry. They are, apparently, the only costumers.

Naruto sits directly across Hinata; it's the closest they've gotten and Hinata's breath catches in her throat.

In the end they decide to order ramen, much to Naruto's joy. Hinata is unable to eat her entire share(oreo, m&m's, fruit candy, cinnamon rolls) and to her shock/horror Naruto asks if he can have it.

"He always does that," Sakura explains.

When they head back to the car, stomachs full, Hinata is almost certain that she's enjoying herself.

Their next stop is in the middle of nowhere, a field full of the last autumn flowers.

Sakura takes Hinata's hand and runs into the field, laughing, pink hair everywhere. Hinata has never done this before, _mystery trip,_ but then again she has neve had the chance to do it, plus the lack of friends did not help. She plucks flowers and gathers them into a bouquet (' That's so pretty, Hinata-chan!'). Sakura insists on braiding flowers into Hinata's hair. (' You look like a fairy!' Sakura exclaims and Hinata blushes, _again,_ looking away; Naruto is studying her attentively, but she's too nervous to notice him. Sasuke and Sakura laugh.)

Sasuke and Naruto lay out a picnic blanket.

"This is so mainstream," Sakura giggles and Sasuke grunts. "It's you who wanted to watch the sunset, Sakura."

Hinata has never thought about watching the sun set as a mainstream activity, she enjoys doing it whenever she has the opportunity, so she can not relate to Sakura's words.

They stay there for a while, even after the sun has set and Hinata feels strange, but the good kind of strange, the strange that gets her stomach warm. The wind blows and she thinks that she should have brought a jacket, it's getting cold. Even if goosebumps rise along her skin, she says nothing, she doesn't want to be the one to ruin the good mood.

An unfamiliar hoodie wraps around her shoulder and Hinata stares up alarmed.

"You're shivering," Naruto points out, smiling, and he's voice is soft, almost unrecognizable.

Hinata blushes furiously and looks down at her fingers. "I-it's not n-necessary, you must be c-cold yourself, N-naruto-san."

Naruto laughs. "'s okay, Hinata-chan, I'm wearing a long sleeved shirt, see?" And Hinata is so amazed by the fact that he called her _Hinata-chan_, the fact that his scent is everywhere and that he's so close that she can see his freckles, that she forgets everything and just nods, failing to realize the knowing smile Sakura gives Naruto.

When she's back in her apartment (Sakura had hugged her and had kissed her cheek when they said their goodbyes) Hinata is tired. She takes a shower, carefully taking out each flower (she's going to press them) from her hair and calls Neji, while hiding under her comforter, squeezing Mr. Rabbit close to her; the blush persists throughout their whole conversation.

Hinata hasn't been this happy for a long time.


	2. fight

_._

_clutching at straws  
_

_._

_oo2_

_._

**Because everyone fights.**

_._

* * *

When Hinata introduces Neji to Sakura, the pink haired girl touches his hair and keeps complimenting it. Neji just laughs and doesn't know if he should be worried or happy that Hinata befriended a pink haired girl with odd habits.

"Hinata talks a lot about you lately," Neji tells Sakura when they are alone; Hinata is plucking a strange looking flower.

"Really?" Sakura giggles, fishing her camera out of her bag and taking several pictures of Hinata.

"Haruno-san –"

"Sakura."

"—Sakura-san, Hinata is a gentle soul; she's easily influenced, she's easily hurt."

"I'm sorry, Neji-san, but I don't understand why you're telling me this," Sakura says, placing the camera into her lap.

"If you and your friends only befriended her because she looks fragile and insecure, because you thought that it'd be fun to get her out of her shell –"

"Hinata-chan is a lovely person," Sakura interrupts, looking at Neji with big green eyes, "I didn't befriend her out of pity if you're implying that. Other people tend to avoid us, Neji-san, but Hinata accepts us as we are. I didn't choose to be friends with her just for fun, I choose to be friends with her because she's a great person."

Neji smiles and is happy that Hinata met Sakura.

"Look, Sakura-chan, Neji-niisan!" Hinata exclaims, showing them a blue flower.

"You just called me Sakura-chan!" Sakura sequels; Neji laughs and Hinata blushes.

.

"Hey you," Kiba greets and Hinata pauses in the mids of tying her shoelace to smile at her friend. "Wanna have lunch together?"

Hinata gets up and flattens down her blouse and her sweater. "I'm sorry, Kiba, but I already promised Sakura-chan I'll have lunch with her today."

Kiba grimaces at Sakura's name. "Shino and I are going to the mall in the afternoon, wanna tag along?"

"A-actually," Hinata whispers, "I'm at the kindergarten this a-afternoon, it's my turn this w-week. I'm really s-sorry Kiba! Let's m-meet up another time?"

"Whatever," Kiba mutters, "now that you're friends with those freaking hipsters you're forgetting who your true friends are, Hinata."

"It's not like that, Kiba!" Hinata argues. "Maybe if you would stop with the prejudice you'll befirend them too!"

"Ha!" Kiba laughs sarcastically. "Me befriending those hipsters? Never!"

Hinata is at loss of words. She wants Kiba to know that Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke are amazing people, but her friend is being a stubborn mule.

"I can only assume that you don't want to be friends with us because you're mentally and spiritually incapable to form a bond with people who – how should I say—are not as mainstream and ordinary as you are."

Hinata and Kiba look at Sakura bewildered. She's standing proud and tall right in front of them a serious look in her eyes.

"What a hipster," Kiba mutters under his breath while pushing past Sakura and Sasuke.

Sasuke has to grab Sakura by the waist to stop her from punching Kiba, while Hinata is left confused and hurt. She has always thought of Kiba as her friend. Do friends do this? Why would Kiba do this to her? Is he not happy that she's making new friends?

"Hinata-chan, are you okay?" Sakura asks, staring at Hinata.

"Y-yes," Hinata stutters, clutching her books tighter to her chest, "It's just that I don't understand him. He is s-supposed to be my f-friend and now he is acting like a total –"

"Asshole?" Sakura offers.

"Yeah..."

"Don't give it too much thought, Hinata-chan, Kiba's gonna come to his senses sooner or later," Sakura assures her friend, patting her shoulder.

During lunch Hinata is silent; more silent that usual. The thought of Kiba being so grumpy and _rude _makes her uneasy, as if being friends with anyone except for him and Shino is a crime. The feel of guilt follows her around like the plague the entire day.

.

"Hinata?" Deidara, professor of painting/color/design/composition yells in hear ear, successfully disturbing her daydreaming.

"Y-yes, professor?" Hinata manages to say when she catches her breath.

Deidara is staring at her, so close, that Hinata pulls away.

"What is this?" He asks, pointing a finger at her canvas.

"M-my composition?" Hinata stutters, blinking rapidly.

"This is not a composition, Hinata!" Deidara is shouting, throwing his hands in the air exasperated, the one eye that is visible buldging out of the skull; he's turning red. "It' a spiral made from a single stroke of the brush!"

"I – "

"No, no!" Deidara interrupts; the entire class is now staring at him. "Art is an explosion, Hinata! You are my best student, you're hands are the epitome of magic," he's holding Hinata's hand staring at it as if it's an artifact then suddenly drops it. "Now go on, do magic!" And he wiggles his eyebrow in such manner that it scares Hinata.

"What are you staring at, you good for nothings?!" Deidara yells, staring at his students. "Work!"

It' a relief when the three hours of composition class pass and she finally heads to the kindergarten. The children are playing in the yard; when they spot her, they run to her and hug her legs.

They make decorations for the upcoming autumn party; Hinata walks home with a smile on her face and glitter in her hair.

.

It's past midnight when the phone goes off on her nightstand. Hinata wakes and squints her eyes to adjust to the brightness of the screen. It reads _Sakura-chan._

"Hinata?" Sakura's voice sounds funny.

"Sakura-chan what's wrong? What happened?"

"I'm sorry for disturbing you at such an inappropriate hour, Hinata-chan, but I'm outside."

"I'll be right down!" Hinata exclaims, throwing her comforter aside and jumping to her feet. She turns on the lights as she walks to the door. When she opens it Sakura is standing there hugging herself; she's only wearing a sweater and her really tight jeans with a pair of old boots. Hinata quickly pulls her inside, locking the door behind her.

"I—" Sakura begins, but her voice cracks and she lets out a sob and another set of tears before continuing, "Sasuke and I... we had a fight."

"Oh..." Hinata says, because really, what useful advice can a girl that has never dated anyone before, give. "People fight all the time, Sakura-chan, and people make up all the time. I'm sure that you'll make up with him in no time." Hinata has never seen Sakura in such a bad shape. Her whole being is shaking and she's hugging herself. It scares Hinata. She doesn't know what to do, what to say. Sakura and Sasuke are the perfect couple. They love each other; Hinata can see it in the way they look at each other, the way that neither of them has to say anything yet the other one still understands, the way how Sakura always gives her cherry tomatoes to Sasuke or the way Sasuke always buys red bean pancakes even though he doesn't like sweets.

"No...," Sakura whispers, more tears spilling from her eyes, "No, you don't know."

"Tell what I can do, Sakura-chan," Hinata pleads, "How can I help?"

"I—can I sleep here tonight?" Sakura asks. "I don't wanna go back there."

"Of course!" Hinata exclaims while she wipes away Sakura's tears with a napkin. "But you'll have to sleep on the sofa, I don't have and extra bed."

Sakura smiles. "I don't mind sleeping on the sofa. But can I take a shower first, please."

Hinata lends Sakura one of her pajamas ( 'Thank you, Hinata-chan, you're too good to me.') and while the pink haired is showering Hinata set up the make-shift bed for her. She tucks Sakura in and waits until her friend is asleep, holding her hand, before going back to her room.

Hinata doesn't get any more sleep that night.

.

When the alarm clock sets off, Hinata is already through her morning routine. She shuts it off and heads to the kitchen to make breakfast. Sakura is still sleeping; she's hugging the pillow.

While making the tea, Hinata wonders if she should wake Sakura. She decides against it. It's Saturday, Sakura can sleep in. Hinata sits at her small table, sipping tea and munching a whole-grain biscuits when Sakura abruptly sits up. She rubs her eyes and yawns and blinks her eyes open.

Hinata smiles at her and sakura returns the gesture.

"Good morning, Hinata-chan!" Sakura beams, all bubbly and nothing like the person she had been the previous night when she arrived at Hinata's door.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan, do you uhm—want some breakfast?" Hinata offers already sitting up.

Sakura nods but walks to the bathroom first ('There's a spare toothbrush under the sink, Sakura-chan!'). She emerges a few minutes later, pink mane up into a high ponytail.

Hinata offers her a biscuit. "Tea or coffee?"

"Coffee please!"

They remain silent after that; Hinata places the mug in front of Sakura and the later sips contently. Hinata then proceeds in making toast with peanut butter and strawberry jelly. After they eat Sakura insists on doing the dishes.

"He smoked pot," Sakura says, her back facing Hinata. "He and Naruto, both of them."

_Naruto smokes pot?!_

"I don't like it when they do it, you know, and they _promised _not to do it anymore. But then this stupid, stupid Suigetsu with his fish face came by and it escalated from there. When I came home it was already full of smoke. Suigetsu just ran off and Naruto hid in his room. We said terrible things to each other—I said terrible things to him, I'd rather not tell you about that. I pissed him off, I think, so he yelled _Fuck Sakura just shut your mouth, you are not my mother, you are not to decide what I'm allowed to do and what not, so stop being so annoying already._ I—I really mess it up sometimes. Then I run away."

Hinata doesn't know what to say; she doesn't know how to comfort her friends, how to help her out.

"If there's anything I can help you with, Sakura-chan, anything at all, please let me know," Hinata speaks, moving closer to Sakura, who is now facing her.

"Thank you, Hinata-chan, but you've already done enough," Sakura assures.

"You can stay here until you figure things out with Sasuke-kun," Hinata offers shyly and Sakura eyes widen.

"Are you serious?"

Hinata nods. "Of course!"

Sakura accepts the offer gladly; she still asks Hinata if she's sure ('It might be a while, though.'). After that they rummage through Hinata's closet to find something to wear for the pink haired since her clothes are stinky. It turns out to be quite a challenging task, since Hinata mostly own pastel colored and flower patterned clothes but eventually Sakura settles for a baby-blue sweater and a pair of old washed out jeans that Hinata mostly wears at the studio while she's painting.

Later that day, when Hinata is sketching for her new painting and Sakura is watching cartoons, there's knocking on the door. Hinata is not expecting any visitors but she thinks she has a vague idea of who it could be on the other side.

When she opens the door she is greeted by Naruto's smiling face and Sasuke's sullen, grumpy face. She smiles and puts a finger to her lips motioning to them to come inside.

"Hinata-chan?" Comes Sakura's voice from the living room; Sasuke's head instantly snaps to its direction.

"S-she's watching cartoons," Hinata supplies, "I'll leave the two of you alone."

Sasuke just gapes at her, nodding dumbly.

"Please j-just sort whatever is going on b-between you guys out," Hinata pleads, genuine concerns visible on her face.

"I will," Sasuke says, toeing his vans and making his way to the living room while Hinata puts on a coat and a scarf.

Naruto just shifts his weight from a leg to another, uneasy. "Do you—" he starts, looking away when Hinata turns to him, "wanna go somewhere together?"

Hinata blushes almost instantly, hiding her face in her lavender scarf. "S-sure."

Naruto walks on the outer side of the sidewalk and Hinata can only think of Neji constantly reminding her that a man will always walk on the outer side of the sidewalk. He's unusually quiet, gnawing on his lower lip, so Hinata takes it on her to lighten the gloomy atmosphere.

"I'm sure that it's going to be fine," she says, looking at Naruto. The cold does a good job in keeping her blush away.

"Mhm..." Naruto murmurs, shoulders slumped, hands in the pocket of his black jacket. "Did Sakura-chan tell you what happened?"

"Y-yes..."

"It was my fault," Naruto sighs, "I shouldn't have left Suigetsu in, I knew what he was up to. It's my fault."

Hinata's breath catches in her throat; a few people pass by them. "It's not your fault, Naruto-kun. It was Sasuke-san's choice. You shouldn't blame yourself."

"But I broke my promise to her, we both did," Naruto insists.

"I'm sure that Sakura-chan will forgive you," Hinata replies, "She cares deeply for both of you, N-naruto-kun, you just have to give her time."

"We always mess things up, Sasuke and I," Naruto laughs, but it's far from being funny and Hinata studies Naruto's every change in facial expression.

They sit on a bench, the size making it impossible for arms and thighs not to brush against each other. Hinata is trying to stay calm, she focuses on her breathing instead, but in vain, Naruto's distinctive smell invades her nostrils and she's already losing her composure. Her heart is beating fast in her ribcage, brain turning to mush.

"You alright, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asks concerned, face so close that Hinata can almost, _almost _count his eyelashes; his breath is warm on her cold skin. Hinata is unable to form any words, she just nods.

"Are you cold?" Naruto inquires, "Should we go to a cafe?"

Hinata shakes her head, letting the words out of her mouth in a rush. "N-no, I'm f-fine."

She likes this, when her heart is beating so fast that she is scared that it might jump out of her chest. It's something she never experienced before, all new feelings and she is still yet to get accustomed to them but she is seventy percent sure that she's developing _feelings_ for Naruto. It makes her insides fuzzy and warm; she smiles.

"What's so funny?" Naruto asks.

"N-nothing," Hinata replies, alarmed, "Nothing at all." _  
_

"You were smiling," Naruto says, matter-of-factly.

"People smile," Hinata offers and Naruto bursts into laughter. Hinata hides her face in her scarf.

"You should smile more often, Hinata-chan, you look beautiful," Naruto tells her, low, eyes locking with hers and Hinata can _practically _feel her skin burning.

Naruto's phone buzzes in his pocket and suddenly he pulls away, fishes his phone out. "Sakura-chan? Yes. No, she's with me. You ok? Yeah, we'll be right back."

He sighs, relieved and smiles sheepishly at Hinata. "They've made up, I can tell by Sakura's voice. She said she called you but you left your phone behind apparently."

"W-we were in a hurry," Hinata explains.

"Yeah," Naruto huffs, "we should get back."

While on their way back Naruto hums a melody that Hinata has never heard; he's back to normal. As they enter the apartment they hear Sakura laughing and Hinata instantly smiles. Naruto runs into the living room, picks Sakura up and gives her a bear hug, apologizing. She hits his head playfully and grins; they're good. Sakura thanks Hinata uncountable time for her hospitality and her understanding and promises that she'll wash her clothes. When Hinata closes the door behind them she's still smiling; her cheeks start hurting. She tells Neji, phone pressed between her shoulder and her ear, while sketching a very detailed portrait of a certain blond.

* * *

Second chapter up! please r&r. thank you!:3


	3. simplicity

_._

_clutching at straws  
_

_._

_oo3_

_._

**Because it _is_ simple.  
**

_._

* * *

It's lunch hour, the canteen is packed with students; Sasuke and Sakura scoff at the girl who has just used a Spanish phrase, incorrectly.

"I don't even know how she managed to get those sounds out of her mouth," Sakura says turning back to her salad, pushing her over sized glasses back on her nose. She moves the tomatoes to Sasuke's plate while munching happily at a piece of carrot.

Sasuke, as per usual, doesn't bother answering, instead focuses on his book with an obscure name that Hinata has never heard of. It never ceases to surprise Hinata what strange books and activities the three friends take interest in.

"Hinata-chan, why are you not eating?" Naruto asks, fork pointed at Hinata's intact lunch tray. Hinata has no blood left to travel to her cheeks when she lifts her head up to look at Naruto and the tray. Her stomach stirs at the mere sight of it. She pushes the tray away and rests her head on her arms that are folded on the table.

"They went to the morgue today," Sakura supplies, stealing one of Hinata's spring rolls.

Naruto grimaces, mouth twitching. "Ew. That's gross. Who's the sadist that did that?"

"K-kabuto-sensei," Hinata mumbles into the sleeve of her sweater.

"Why'd he have you go to the morgue?" Naruto asks, incredulously.

"H-human body reference," Hinata states, "We'll have to do a p-piece from the pictures we t-took."

"That sounds like so much fun," Naruto grins and Hinata buries her face in her arms yet again.

"It's twenty five percent of our grade," Hinata tells them dejected and Sakura pats her head affectionately.

"You can do it, Hinata-chan!" Naruto beams, grin as wide as his face and Hinata smiles shyly up at him, mind blank from the nerves.

Naruto then goes back to talking to Sasuke, all loud noises, complaints and wide, toothy grins. Hinata stares at him between her bangs.

Suddenly the noise is gone and all she can see is Naruto, blond messy hair, wide grin and watery blue eyes. Hinata stares, eyes widening as he laughs, throwing his head back just like the time she first had first seen him. Her heart constricts tightly in her chest, almost painfully and her breathing is heavy.

_What is this?_

The revelation hits her abruptly and the _simplicity _of it has such a force that it makes her dizzy.

It's not spectacular, the moment she realizes that _yes, _she is falling in love with Naruto.

It's simple, like a painting made out of non-colors, white and black, greys; like the light that seeps into a room when the door is left slightly ajar. Perplexed by the sudden acknowledgement Hinata holds her breath and then quickly releases it. She stares at Naruto, dumbly, searching for something – _anything—_that would give out why she's feeling the way she's feeling. But there is nothing to see; it's just Naruto.

She averts her attention to Sakura, who is sitting at her left, trying desperately to turn away from the face that makes her heart beat irregularly and her head spin.

"Hinata-chan?" She hears Sakura ask, tilting her head. "Are you alright?"

Hinata nods and scrambles to her feet. She makes her way to her next class, eyes wide, head pounding.

Deidara has little to no compassion for her distraught mind. Hhinata has to work hard for the piece that she's going to present at the exhibition and her professor diligently watches over her shoulder ready to scold her for any mistake. But Hinata's hand moves automatically after all the time; the brush is a part of her being now.

"The color choice is impressing, Hinata," Deidara compliments, watching Hinata's unfinished piece with critical eyes.

Hinata is far to absorbed in her work to respond and Deidara smiles, shaking her head. "Children this day."

.

Hinata stares up at her blue ceiling.

"Naruto," she says, tentatively. "Naruto," she repeats, this time a little more louder. The name itself makes her heart skip a beat.

"I like Naruto."

The words roll off her tongue so easily and with such fluidity that it scares Hinata.

"I like Naruto," she says again and again, like a mantra. Her voice sounds foreign and Hinata sits up abruptly, breathing accelerating.

She brings her cold palms up, covering her burning cheeks.

_Is this what falling in love feels like_, she wonders, falling back onto her bed. Her heart beats fast in her ribcage and Hinata fears that all the stress will affect her physical health. Or worse yet, her sanity. She shakes her head. _Don't be silly, nobody died from falling in love._

"Naruto," she whispers one last time before sleep takes over her consciousness.

.

Hinata comes up with numerous theories for why she's feeling the way she's feeling towards Naruto; only one can be plausible. Because of his carefree nature and his happy face Naruto had somehow managed to leave a deep impression on Hinata, who had always been a shy, introverted girl. They say opposites attract, Naruto is the exact opposite of her so it figures. It _has _to. This – whatever _this_ is— what she feels for Naruto unsettles her, leaves her happy and unhappy.

After coming to terms with herself and her feeling Hinata avoids Naruto as much as she can(every time she sees him, her heart races and she is unable to form coherent sentences, making a fool out of herself; the furious blushing and stuttering makes everything even worse). It is extremely embarrassing. She tries to reduce the amount of time she spends with him, because she worries that her feelings might get noticed and she is not yet ready for that to happen(she doubts that she'll ever be). Fate seems to work in her favor, as everyone is busy with the winter exhibition. The only time when they can see each other is during lunch and Hinata has recurred to every possible excuse not to have lunch with the three. It saddens her that she acts like this towards people that have been so kind to her but Hinata is _scared. _She has never had such feelings, for anyone and it is all too much, too _overwhelming._

She can't control her hands nor her thoughts, though; she thinks about him all the time and her sketchbook quickly fills up with sketches of Naruto. Hinata always keeps it close to her, paranoid that someone will find it and show it to Naruto; she gets goose-bumps just by thinking about it.

So when she gets home from the university on day, tired and with oil paint sticking to her hair(she accidentally let her hair fall over her brush) and she can't find it, it comes as a total shock.

She starts panicking, empties her bag, looks through her books; in vain.

_No, please. No._

She starts crying. Today, of all days. Today, when she had lunch with Sakura.

Her eyes widen in shock. She had taken her sketchbook out, searching for a book Sakura had asked to borrow from her. Sakura. If Sakura has found the sketchbook she's doomed; if _anyone_ finds it and shows it to Naruto and then her efforts of keeping what she feels from him will have been in vain. She should have known better than to draw his face all over the white pages, she shouldn't have been so careless. But her hand had been moving on its own accord.

Hinata doesn't sleep that night.

.

Sakura comes looking for her during lunch.

"Hinata-chan!" she beams, throwing her arms around Hinata. "Look what I found yesterday!" Hinata looks at Sakura's hand and sure enough it is her purple sketchbook that Sakura is holding. Hinata's breath hitches in her throat.

"Where?"

"I think I accidentally picked it up with my books after lunch. Sorry," Sakura smiles.

"Did—" Hinata starts, swallowing hard, "Did you l-look?"

Sakura pouts."I wanted to but Sasuke wouldn't let me!"

Hinata sighs, relieved. She needs to thank Sasuke when she sees him.

"Can I look?" Sakura asks, bubbly, green eyes sparkling.

Hinata quickly snatches the sketchbook from her grasps and shakes her head vigorously.

Sakura tilts her head in confusion.

"If you're drawing nudes you don't need to be embarrassed," she whispers, leaning closer.

Hinata blushes furiously. "I d-don't draw n-nudes!"

Sakura laughs.

Suddenly someone bumps into Hinata and the sketchbook falls to the floor. Hinata looks down alarmed and Naruto's sketch grins back at her. Hinata wishes the ground would open and swallow her, ending her misery.

Sakura crouches down to pick it up and Hinata knows that Sakura _knows._

Sakura gives the sketchbook back to Hinata, closed, and smiles.

* * *

oh! sakura has found out!


	4. crying

_._

_clutching at straws  
_

_._

_oo4_

_._

**Because crying does good.**

_._

* * *

Sakura doesn't say a word about the sketchbook incident and Hinata is grateful but at the same time she feels guilty. Guilty that she can't find the courage to tell Sakura the truth; Sakura who has been such a good friend. Hinata wants to cry just by thinking of it. It makes her angry that she's being like this, _weak _like this. Ever so weak, never good enough.

Neji advices her to talk to Sakura, explain things. Hinata is adamant about it but she does know that speaking to Sakura will make things much easier. So she gathers her courage and asks Sakura to meet up after classes. It's cold outside, but it's to early for snow, still. Hinata listens to Sakura speaking about everything and nothing and Sakura suddenly stops, looking at her with wide green eyes. Hinata takes a deep breath before she tells Sakura about Naruto. And Sakura smiles, her eyes turning into crescents and she asks questions and she seems happy and Hinata can't help it, she smiles.

When they walk out of the cafe, Sakura clinging to Hinata's arm, it feels like a weight has been lifted from Hinata's shoulders. Neji has been right, again.

Sakura promises to keep it a secret and Hinata nods, still embarrassed, still blushing and Sakura laughs, pinching her cheek. And when Sakura waits for her outside the art studio Hinata smiles shyly and relieved. It's the first time in two weeks when she finally has lunch with them and Hinata is self-conscious more than she needs to be. Sakura notices immediately and bumps her thigh against Hinata's, whispering 'Don't worry!'. Sakura has told her that Naruto is so dense when it comes to a girl's feelings that he probably doesn't even notice her being all embarrassed around him. Hinata _truly _wants to believe Sakura but it is extremely hard when Naruto's standing right in front of her, whining and complaining about assignments as usual. But Hinata takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, pictures herself at the beach, the crashing waves and the salty scent, and refuses to let his presence intoxicate her more than it already does.

.

Sakura opens the door grinning widely; Hinata only sees the colorful strange patterned sweater. Sasuke and Naruto are visiting one of their friends in Otogakure and Sakura has invited Hinata over for a sleepover. Hinata is all fidgety and excited; strange at it may seems she has never had the chance to do much girly things. The three friends shared apartment smells like vanilla and flowers and Hinata _knows _for a fact that it's Sakura's doing. There are black flowers painted all over the walls in the hallway and when she walks into the living room the wall in front of her is full of pictures, literally. Hinata stares from the doorway(there's no door, only a dark-blue curtain separating the hallway from the living room); there are pictures of Sakura and Sasuke and other people she doesn't recognize and _Naruto_. Sakura laughs from behind her and Hinata quickly moves, making room for Sakura to enter.

"It shocks people when they see it for the first time," Sakura tells her, taking Hinata's bag from her hands.

"It's amazing," Hinata says walking towards the wall to inspect the pictures more closely. A whole day wouldn't be enough to look at the pictures that adorn the wall. "Who took all of this picture?"

Sakura stands beside her and giggles. "I took most of them," she admits and Hinata's blushing because she has forgotten that Sakura's majoring in photography. "Our parents, our friends."

Hinata nods and her eyes stop at a picture that shows a wide-eyed, grinning Naruto, his arm thrown over Sasuke's shoulder and Sakura in front of them smiling. And something stirs inside of Hinata and she realizes that she's jealous of Sakura who has known Naruto for such a long time, who spends most of her time with Naruto; she's such a bad person for thinking like this, she knows it, but she can't help it. Hinata turns away from the wall and looks around the room. The other walls are blank and the couch – leather, Hinata notes – is black and there are guitars propped in the corner and amplifiers and Hinata wants to ask but she bites her tongue. The flat screen that hangs on the wall, covering part of the picture wall and various play consoles that lay around the room tell Hinata that there is more about the three that she does not know yet. She wonders what exactly she knows about them except for their major.

A half wall separates the living room from the kitchen; Hinata can see the white cabinets, there are red _hearts _all over them. Hinata wonders how Sakura manged to talk Naruto and most importantly Sasuke into sticking red hearts on their cabinets and Hinata realizes that Sasuke must really love Sakura.

The color palette is simple, red, white and red. It's pretty, from the flower pots to the black fuzzy carpet to the scented candle, the wooden floor, to the unfitting green ceiling light that hangs over the small, white kitchen table and the guitars laying in the corner. It's peaceful and it scares Hinata that it almost feels like _home._

She sits down on the leather couch, eyes traveling back to the guitars.

"Sasuke and Naruto are minoring in music," Sakura tells her, sitting down next to her on the couch. Hinata looks at her, slightly embarrassed that her curiosity has been discovered. "They were in a band together back home."

"Back home?" Hinata asks before she can stop herself.

"In Oto," Sakura supplies. Right, Konoha is not their hometown.

"You should hear them play," Sakura says, smiling. "They're great."

The same feeling of jealousy engulfs Hinata but she wills herself to suppress it. She _really _wants to know more about Naruto and Sakura, even Sasuke.

"I would love to," she confesses, twiddling with her fingers.

"I still can't believe you like Naruto," Sakura musses, smiling and Hinata feels her cheeks warming up. "Naruto, of all people!"

Hinata doesn't know what to say, or if she should even say something so she stays silent.

"But it's cute," Sakura adds, still smiling. "He's really dense and you're really shy. You two are total opposites." She giggles, then looks at the wall full of pictures. "It would be great if you two end up together. You'll bring him down to earth, he's been living in his own world for like forever and he'll make you realizes that there are things to enjoy other than painting and taking care of little monsters."

Hinata blushes; it's strange, to hear that people pair you up in their head and expect things to happen between you and a person. But it's good. Like Sakura's trying to comfort her, to give her strength and confidence; Hinata appreciates it.

"You need to talk to him, Hinata-chan!" Sakura tells her, voice serious, green eyes wide.

"I do talk to him," Hinata mumbles, looking away from Sakura because it's embarrassing.

Sakura shakes her head. "Like proper talk! You need to get to know each other better!"

Hinata is amused at how thrilled Sakura is with the idea of her liking Naruto.

The rest of the evening is spent gossiping about the people from the uni and Sakura telling stories from her hometown and when she wants to tell Hinata more about Naruto Hinata stops her because she doesn't want to hear it from Sakura, she wants to hear it from Naruto.

.

Friday evening finds Hinata in her room, searching for something to wear for the family dinner, Sakura sprawled on her bed, a bowl of popcorn next to her.

"Why are you so stressed about this?" The pink haired asks, staring at Hinata's sky-blue ceiling.

"My family is complicated," Hinata supplies, head in her closet. She takes out her black dress.

"Why are you wearing black? Are you visiting a dead relative? Is your father a mafia boss? Or yakuza?"

"N-no," Hinata sighs, walking into the bathroom. A few moments later she emerges, fully dressed. She stands in front of the mirror and gathers her ebony hair up in a bun. Sakura sits up, pulling the bowl of popcorn into her lap.

"I can see that you are not comfortable, so I'm gonna take my leave now," Sakura announces, getting to her feet.

"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan," Hinata tells her dejected, head lowered.

"No, don't worry about it," Sakura says, grabbing her by the shoulders, "I get it, your family is complicated and it makes you uncomfortable to talk about them."

Ten minutes later Neji picks her up. Ten-Ten, Neji's girlfriend, tries to lighten up the mood, for no good.

When they arrive at the restaurant her grandmother pinches both her cheeks ("You've lost weight. Are you eating enough?") while her father doesn't even bother looking at her, not even when she greets him.

"So sis, where's your sketchbook?" Hanabi asks, smirking at her sister. Hinata flushes, embarrassed.

"Hanabi!" Her grandma scolds. "Don't be rude to your sister."

"I wasn't being rude," Hanabi offers, "She always carries that with her."

"I d-don't have it with me r-right n-now," Hinata stutters, embarrassed.

"Why?" Hanabi insists, pouting. "Didn't it fit into you bag?"

Hinata has never been in good terms with her younger sister. While Hinata herself failed to rise to the expectation of her father, being the black sheep of the Hyuuga family in her fathers eyes, Hanabi succeeded in making their father proud.

"Hanabi, enough," Hiashi Hyuuga says sternly and the younger Hyuuga lowers her head.

"Hinata-chan, how are classes going?" Her grandmother asks kindly, trying to alleviate the tension.

"Good," Hinata breaths, relieved. "Right now we're preparing for the winter exhibition."

"Hinata is one of the few first year students that managed to get a spot in the exhibition,"Neji informs. Her father raises an eyebrow curiously and the gesture doen't go unnoticed by the elderly Hyuuga.

"Tell me more about it," she inquires, eyes focused on Hinata.

"Every year," Hinata begins, voice shaky, "there is a contest of some kind where every student can participate with a piece. There are certain criteria the teachers take into consideration when they asses the works. Then they choose three winners from each category painting, drawing, sculpting, photography and others."

"And you were one of the three," her grandmother concludes, eyes sparkling with pride. "That is a big accomplishment for a first year student, isn't it?"

"yes, yes it is," Neji answers.

"So her paintings are going to be shown to the world, big deal," Hanabi huffs.

"There are going to be important persons attending that exhibition, Hanabi," Neji tells his younger cousin, "persons that can take notice of Hinata's capacities, of her talent, there can even be people who'd wanna buy some of her pieces."

"Whatever," Hanabi says, annoyed.

"So you have decided to go on with this nonsense," her fathere states, eyes hard on his daughter, arms folded on the table.

Hinata feels a lump forming in her throat, her hands are shaking and she can feel the tears picking at the corner of her eyes. "Y-yes," she answers, voice shaky; she gets up from the table and smooths down her dress. "I'm sorry, grandmother," she adds, apologetic.

Her grandmother nods in understanding as Hinata walks out.

"I'll go," Neji says, following his cousin outside. "Hinata!" He calls when he sees her walking down the street. Said girl stops in her track at the sound of Neji's voice.

"I'm sorry," Neji tells her when he's in front of her.

"I should have known better than to come," Hinata shrugs, wiping away the tears furiously.

"Come on, I'll bring you home."

" I'll walk home," she says, looking up at her cousin, "You s-should go b-back, Neji-nii."

Neji gives her a reassuring smile and engulfs her in a hug before walking back.

.

The first snow of the year finds Hinata sitting on a bench. It's the same bench she sat on with Naruto that night in October; she –stupidly, dumbly, unrealistically— expected him to be here, waiting. How childish and weak of her, to think that somehow fate would bring him here. Hinata stares up at and snowflakes fall on her skin, melting. It shouldn't bother her anymore, that her own father doesn't approve of her, that he rejects her but it does. When she left what she used to call home Hinata knew that she wouldn't – couldn't—go back but she never imagined that it would be this hard to move on. She wishes her mother was still with her; advice her. But her mother is dead and she has no one to turn to and it's _hard. _And she wishes Naruto was here; she wants to see his face, his handsome, smiling face; a second and everything will be alright. But he's not here. A tear rolls down her cheek, mixing with the snowflakes. Hinata closes her eyes, Naruto's face appearing behind her eyelids.

"Naruto," she whispers. It pathetic, how she calls for him in this moments, how she clings to the image of a stranger.

"Hinata." She hears and his voice is so close, so _real._ "Hinata?" Comes the voice again, this time as a question but still so, so real. Hinata opens her eyes and what – who – she sees makes her question her sanity. Because how come Naruto is standing before her, hands in his pockets, head tilted and snowflakes in his hair. Hinata closes her eyes, opens them again, blinks rapidly but the image doesn't vanish; he must be real.

"What are you doing here?"

And Hinata is so shocked, so relieved, so happy to see him that she starts crying, fat tears rolling down her cold cheeks and she's sure she must think that she's crazy.

Naruto panics, his blue eyes going wide and he doesn't know what to do with himself. He crouches down, rest his palms on Hinata's little kneecaps, looks up at her tear stained face. And it hits him like a tennis ball straight in the face; how beautiful she is. With her ebony hair damp from the snow, the shivering of her lithe body, the pale skin, the red of her plump parted lips. Naruto stares at her and he's sure that his heart is getting little cracks from seeing her crying, hearing her sobs.

"N-naruto-kun," she whimpers and it's by pure instinct, Naruto tells himself, that he wraps his arms around her shoulders and presses her small body against his.

"It's okay, I've got you," he soothes into her hair and Hinata clutches at his coat, desperately, sobbing. It's awkward the position their in and Naruto straightens up, lifts her up from the bench(she's so compliant, so fragile that it's _too _easy) and her head rests on his chest. Naruto strokes her hair(it smells sweet and clean) and wonders what could have happened to put her in such a shape; shy, little, sweet, innocent Hinata crying like a child in his arms.

Naruto doesn't know how long he waits for her to stop crying nor does he care. When she wiggles out of his arms, wiping away the tears with back of her hand, not looking at him(he can see the cute flush of her cheeks) Naruto already misses her body pressed against his.

"You alright?" Naruto asks and he internally curses how raspy his voice sounds; he clears his throat and scratches the back of his head. She nods, still not looking at him and Naruto fights back the urge to lift her chin up and look into those clear eyes of hers.

"I'm s-sorry," she whispers and it's almost inaudible but he hears it because he is practically invading her personal space but he doesn't care nor does he step back to give her space. Hinata shifts her weight from one foot to another still not looking at him and _goddammit _he wants to see those pretty eyes, wants to know that she's okay.

He's angry, somehow, and worried, somehow, and he just wants to shake her and make him tell her what or who made her cry but he can't do that so he does the only thing that seems reasonable.

"What happened to you, Hinata-chan?" he asks quietly.

Hinata looks up at him and he sees the sadness written all over her face but mostly in her eyes.

"Family issues," she responds and her tone is cold and void of any emotion. He's never seen her like this. It's hard for Naruto to believe that such a great person has family issues but he knows better than to judge book by its cover.

"Parents can be pretty though, ttebayo," Naruto tells her, smiling(he knows it's fake but it's the only one he can give her right know) and the image of his parents appears before his eyes, he shakes it off.

"I know." _Please stop asking._

"You don't wanna talk about it?" _Just tell me already._

And Hinata thinks to hell with him being practically a stranger, to hell with not showing anyone the pain in your heart.

"I just—" she start and the tears are threatening to fall again but she suppresses them, "I do my best in everything I do and it's never enough. Never, ever enough. It makes me angry and sad that no matter what I do, no matter how hard I try it's never _enough _for him.

It's frustrating that he can't understand that the only thing that makes me happy is painting. And I want to show him that I _can _be the best, I want him to stop thinking about me like I'm weak, little, incapable Hinata, because I am not!"

Hinata's breathing is ragged and she's sure that her voice must have been all squeaky and girlish but she doesn't care because it feels good to have finally let it out of her chest.

"So the he you were talking about is –"

"My father."

Naruto watches her and he's shocked because he would have never thought that Hinata would make a tantrum like this. He smiles because it's amazing, _she's _amazing and she looks so stunningly beautiful like this, breathing hard, hair a mess, eyes wild.

"You said painting makes you happy," Naruto says after a moment of silence and Hinata nods, "Then you should never stop painting. You should never stop persuading your dreams just because it doesn't please those around you. It's your life, it's your choices, so never let anyone decide for you," he adds and Hinata is looking at him with big, big eyes and she smiles a little smile, genuine and small and so _heartwarming._

"Come on, I'll walk you home," he tells her, grinning and Hinata nods, following.

* * *

a/n:finally, things are starting to fall together!thank you all for the support! and silent readers you better come out!(a penny for your thoughts).  
i changed the title because... i don't know why, i do know, this title suits the story better and I've edited the chapter, replaced the ' ' with " ".

love you all and don't forget to review and tell me what you think.

p.s: i'm trying to write longer chapters.


	5. instinct

_._

_clutching at straws  
_

_._

_oo5_

_._

**Because sometimes you can't help it.**

_._

* * *

Hinata walks into The Inuzuka Pet Company with only one goal in mind; she needs to talk to Kiba. Hana, Kiba's older sister is the one who greets her, smiling and informs her that Kiba is in the back. Hinata finds him sitting on the stairs, smoking. He turns around when he hears her.

"What?"

"I c-came to talk," Hinata says and moves to sit down next to him. Kiba shuffles to make room, not sparing her a second glance.

"Kiba-kun," Hinata starts, "you are my friend and I'm sorry if I made you upset," she watches him carefully, "But Sakura-chan and Naruto-kun and even Sasuke-kun have been really good to me and—" Kiba snorts, "—and I want you to give them a chance. Get to know them. They are great people. And I don't want to lose a dear friend like you," she finishes and Kiba looks at her, eyes hard.

"Why would I?"

Hinata furrows her brows. "Because you are my friend and I think that you should be happy that I'm socializing?"

"Are you asking or are you answering?" And Hinata smiles and blushes because Kiba may want to come off as angry but his mischevious, witty personality is standing in his way.

"I'm answering!"

Kiba grins sheepishly, throwing an arm around Hinata's shoulder, pressing her against his side. "I am happy that you are making friends!"

"Then why—"

"But with Uzumaki of all people," Kiba snorts, "he's a moron, a freaking doofus. And Haruno with that pink hair of hers, jeez, I never even thought that was possible. Not to mention the other one, thinking that he can boss everyone around just because his name's Uchiha. Best arhitects, my ass. Bunch of creepy hipsters."

Hinata is surprised to hear that Kiba actually knows their names. "You know them?"

"No,kind of. Just Uzumaki and Uchiha, though."

"Really?"

"Uzumaki dated Hana back when she was in college."

"Oh."_oh._ Hinata didn't see that one coming. She hopes that her unhappiness doesn't show; as much as she cares for Kiba Hinata knows that she'd better keep _it_ a secret(more so with Naruto being Kiba's acquaintance). Kiba has a really big mouth and she doesn't want Naruto to find out about her feelings. "I didn't know." Hinata is not sure if she ever wanted to know. It's like a cold shower, like a slap across the face.

"Me neither," Kiba grunts, "Went to visit one time and they were sucking each others faces off."

Hinata closes her eyes, takes a deep breath. _Calm down._

"Why is your face red?" Kiba asks, poking Hinata's cheek.

"I don't know," she lies and Kiba raises his eyebrow at her. Hana calling Kiba inside prevents Hinata from further embarrassing herself.

.

Hinata has no time to sulk about the newest piece of information; she pulls long hours in the studio because the deadline for the exhibition is just around the corner. When she finally shows Deidara the finished piece, he nods and smirks. "Now that's what I call art," he says and Hinata is proud of herself. "Thank you, Deidara-sensei."

"Don't thank me, it's your own merit."

"Yes, thank you, sensei."

"Now go, you look like you could collapse any moment. Rest, I'll see you tomorrow."

Hinata bows deeply and hurries to gather her things and go home. She hasn't had a good rest in days. It's not that she's a stalker or anything like that Hinata thinks when she sees Naruto a few feet in front of her, his back turned to her. He just happens to be close by wherever she goes. Naruto has been kind enough not to mention the crying incident in front of Sakura and Hinata is really grateful(she thanked him but he just waved it off grinning. He even offered to talk hear about her _issues_ but Hinata politely refused which led to him giving her his phone number 'just in case she needed something'; Hinata had stared at the numbers for a really long time that night). Once while Hinata had been doing research on mythological creatures in the library Naruto surprised her by sitting down next to her. He was supposed to do research for one of newest game characters. They chatted for a while and Naruto even helped her find the griffon she had been trying to find. All the while Hinata had been desperately trying not to stare at his face(which was really close to hers, impossibly so)or stutter or embarrass herself in any other way. Hinata thinks of it as a major improvement, that she didn't stutter even though she still blushed like crazy(Naruto didn't seem to notice).

Naruto high fives a really pale looking boy before turning around, grinning(always grinning). As soon as he spots Hinata he waves at her and walks to her. Hinata takes a few calming breaths and manages to crack a smile that she's sure doesn't look like a smile.

"Hinata! What are you doing here? I thought you didn't have classes in the afternoon!"

Hinata stares up at him shocked; he knows that she doesn't have classes in the afternoon? "I c-came to finish up my piece..."

Naruto scratches the back of his head. "I see. So you're heading home right now?" And when Hinata nods Naruto's face lights up. "Wait for me, I'll grab my things and we'll walk together!"

Hinata has no time to respond; Naruto's already runs off. Hinata feels lightheaded. It's not the first time Naruto walks her home and it's not the first time he has ever talked to her but somehow it feels different. Walking home together from school is something couples do. Right? Hinata's cheeks turn hot and she shakes her head, pressing a cold palm to her cheek. She must be going crazy.

"Hinata!"

Said girl jumps to her left, shrieking.

"Jeez, don't freak out," Kiba says, moving in front of her, "It's me, Kiba! See?" And he points a finger to his face.

"K-kiba-kun, you s-scared me!"

Kiba laughs and ruffles Hinata's hair. "You going home?"

Hinata nods. "I'm just waiting for Naruto-kun."

Kiba raises his eyebrows at her. "What up with you and that annoying guy?"

Hinata's cheeks turn to a fierce red once more. "Nothing, what do you mean?"

"I saw you the other day in the library all chatty-chatty and now he's walking you home?"

"It's nothing!" Hinata defends. "We're just friends."

Just when Kiba's about to argue about that Naruto appears behind him and almost jumps on his back. "Inuzuka!" he exclaims and it's too loud and people are staring at them and Hinata is _really _embarrassed.

"Uzumaki, get off of me, you idiot!" Kiba shouts, slapping Naruto's hands away from him.

Naruto grins at him and Kiba is obviously displeased by Naruto's behavior, grimacing and glaring at the blond who seems unfazed.

"You two know each other?" Naruto asks after a moment realizing that Hinata is standing in front of him.

"How did you figure it out, genius?" Kiba bites.

"Kiba-kun," Hinata breaths then turning to Naruto. "We've known each other for a long time."

Naruto nods, scratching the back of his. "So, he's coming too?"

Hinata gives Kiba a questioning look.

"Yeah," Kiba answers, arraging the backpack strap on his shoulder.

"Cool," Naruto says, "let's get moving."

And so Hinata finds herself walking between Naruto and Kiba. The sidewalk is narrow and her shoulder keeps touching Naruto's bicep and her face is _really _hot and it shouldn't be because it's cold outside but she can't help it. She keeps remembering how his arms felt around her(how his whole body felt, pressed against her; she even felt his breath on her temple) and it makes her heart beat fast and her knees turn to jelly and it is _not _good.

"And we have to come up with this concept for the characters and it's really annoying because we have to include back ground information. Who even wants back ground information," Naruto explains but Hinata can't keep up with him.

Kiba elbows her and she looks at him startled. "Your face is as red as a tomato."

Hinata tries to cover as much of her face as she can with her scarf but it's a futile attempt and Kiba laughs under his breath while Naruto talks undisturbed. Hinata doesn't look at any of them after that.

"I need to turn left here," Naruto says. "See you, Hinata! Kiba!"

And they watch as Naruto takes left, vanishing behind a yellow building.

"So you're just friends, huh?" Kiba grins, throwing an arm around Hinata's shoulder and bringing her closer.

"Y-yes!" Hinata exclaims, too defensive and too loud and she's _doomed._

"Aa," Kiba says, evilly. "Hinata and Naruto in a tree~"

Hinata pushes him away and Kiba laughs much to Hinata's distress. When Kiba finally stops and they can walk on Hinata keeps a safe distance between them, trying to show her friend that she's angry with him but Kiba has none of it. He laughs and teases Hinata and it makes her wanna throw a snowball at him.

.

Kiba has lunch with them the next day and he keeps giving Hinata _meaningful_ looks and it makes Hinata frown. Naruto is as dense as always, arguing with Sasuke about the song he had been trying to write. Sakura on the other hand, sharp as always, glares at Kiba with her green eyes and Kiba grins. Sakura kicks him under the table and Kiba grimaces.

"I swear to you, you woman—"

"What," Sasuke says, glaring at Kiba, who scoffs and shakes his head. Sakura grins at Kiba.

To make everything even worse Hinata and Kiba head to class together. Hinata is mentally preparing herself for another round of teasing.

"If you really like him," Kiba says and as far as Hinata can tell he's being serious, "you should go for it."

Hinata blushes furiously. "K-kiba-kun..."

"He's a nice guy if you get over the fact that he's the world's loudest and most obnoxious being."

Hinata giggles and Kiba himself laughs, patting her hair.

"But I'm afraid you'll have to make the first move," Kiba adds. "Naruto's as dense as they come and he'll probably never notice your feelings."

"I'm not sure I want him to know," Hinata breaths.

"Why not?"

"It's still early and maybe it'll go away..."

"Go away," Kiba repeats. "Good luck with that."

.

It's exhibition day and Hinata is nervous. She has sent invitations to her family(her grandmother and her father) and even though she's aware of the fact that her father most certainly won't come she's still hanging on to one last ray of hope.

"You nervous, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asks and Hinata nods, wondering when he'd come next to her. "There's no need to be nervous, I'm sure everyone will love your work! It's one of the most amazing paintings I've ever seen!"

Hinata smiles at Naruto, blushing(still).

"Naruto, come on, we're almost ready!" A red haired boy says and Naruto nods. "I'm sorry Hinata-chan I need to go! It'll be fine, you'll see!"

And after that it's almost like a blur. The exhibition starts and people gather around them and stare and whisper under their breaths and Hinata wonders what they are thinking, wonders if all the hard work will pay off eventually. Deidara walks to her, a blue haired woman with a white rose in it behind him.

"Hinata, I want you to meet someone!" Deidara says and he steps to the side so that the woman can move forward. She's really beautiful, the woman, Hinata notes, taking in her appearance; the long black satin dress, the straight posture, the blue waves of her hair, the red lip stick and the straight black line on her eyelids. "This is Konan, one of my dear friends from Amegakure," Deidara adds and Hinata's eye widen.

"K-konan-san?! The head master of the Art Academy of Amegakure?!"

"That's me," Konan says and Hinata makes a deep ninety degree bow. "And you are?"

"Hinata Hyuuga!"

"Aa, Hinata," Konan says. "Deidara has told me about you."

Hinata looks up alarmed.

"Don't worry, he only has praise words for you," Konan assures and Deidara nods. "Now let's see if he speaks the truth or if talking is the only thing he's good at."

"Hey!" Deidara exclaims, frustrated but Konan pays him no attention, she takes a few steps back and watches Hinata's work with trained eyes. Hinata's mouth and throat are dry and the moments Konan spends inspecting and most probably criticizing her painting seem hours.

"I see you've indeed spoken the truth about her talent, Deidara," Konan says, at least and Hinata looks at her expectantly.

"What did you expect?!" Deidara scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest.

"But," Konan adds, "one painting is not going to convince me to offer her a place in the Academy."

"Hinata has a lot more paintings to show, you should be aware of that!" Deidara counters. "What did you expect, that I'd show you some mediocre copy-cat artist? She'll show you her portfolio right away."

"Will you be so kind, Hyuuga-san?"

And Hinata rushes to bring her portfolio. Konan, the world most renowned painter, head master of The Art Academy of Amegakure wants to see her portfolio! She hurries back, portfolio in her hands and while Konan looks through it Hinata tries not be squeal in excitement.

"Hinata," Konan says, closing the portfolio and handing it back to Hinata.

"Yes!"

"You've got talent, that for sure. I can't make a decision on a whim, you understand that. But I'll give you my business card; call me after winter break. We're going to arrange a meeting and we'll talk."

Hinata nods, eyes wide, whole body turning to mush from nerves, barely holding the card in her hands. "Thank you so very very much, Konan-san!"

"Don't thank me yet," Konan says and turns on her heels.

Deidara winks at Hinata and shows her a thumbs up and in that moment Hinata absolutely _adores _her crazy professor.

Her grandmother appears in front of her minutes later, while Hinata is still recovering from the shock of the meeting. Hinata explains everything to her in one breath and her grandmother's eyes sparkle with pride and Hinata is _happy._ Even though her father hasn't shown up and even if Neji's not here with her(exchange program with Kumogakure) she's still happy and most importantly she's proud of herself. The elderly Hyuuga apologizes for not being able to stay more but she's got a meeting to tend to and Hinata assures her that is all right and that she's thankful that she manged to come.

When the crazy day is finally over and there are only students in the large room Hinata sees Naruto hurrying in her direction.

He's smiling and she can't help but smile back, genuine and wide. "All good?" Naruto asks and Hinata thinks that she's surely going crazy because her arms wrap around him and she _hugging _Naruto, who instinctively hugs her back. It's all good Hinata thinks, with his strong arms around her and his minty scent surrounding her and for a moment she allows herself not to think about the consequences of her acts.

"Sorry for interrupting this extremely romantic moment, but you'll get closed in here if you don't get the hell out," Kiba says, hands in his pockets, face impassive.

Hinata jumps away, red as a beet, head down; Naruto scratches the back of his head, the tips of his ears turning pink. Kiba turns around to hide his grin and clears his throat. "Get moving!"

And Hinata makes a dash for the door before Naruto can manage to even muster a word. Kiba laughs his ass off and for once in his life he wishes Sakura aka the pink haired monster would be here to see what he just witnessed.

* * *

a/n:THIS WAS SO DIFFICULT TO WRITE AND I AM SO SORRY IF IT IS DISAPPOINTING! I had lots of troubles writing this and I am not really satisfied but I rewrote it too many times, so yeah...

OMG!does anyone watch Attack on Titan/ Shingeki no Kyojin? Because I just watched all the episodes in one go and omg! I am in love with this anime!LEVI HEICHOU! why did petra have to die? oh well... I was thinking about writing a levi/mikasa story but I haven't decided yet... should I do it or not? What do you guys think?

okay.. back on track! I hope you enjoyed reading and don't forget to leave a review and share your opinions!(YOU TOO SILENT READERS!)

Love ya all and a big thank you for those who always take the time and review and for those who fave/follow! it is really appreciated!:3


	6. sleep

_._

_clutching at straws  
_

_._

_oo6_

_._

**Because sleep makes everything better.**

_._

Kiba is a sadist, Hinata concludes, watching her friend tear up from too much laughter. He'd stopped by the studio so they could have lunch together and Hinata should have known that he would bring up the hug. "You know how they say that if you should never pull faces or the wind will change and you'll get stuck like it?" Kiba had said, grinning. "If your face would have been redder than that if would have stayed like that forever! How would you have liked that, Hinata!"

Hinata tries to be kind and to ignore Kiba's remarks(which he finds funny) but it's getting really difficult and she wants to throw her chopsticks at him. Hinata is aware that she must have looked like a tomato but that doesn't mean that Kiba should point it out every single time he has the opportunity(like now when he just happened to see the red paint on one of the canvases). She truly wishes she could go back in time and stop herself from doing committing such a crazy act. But she can't. And thus she has to deal with Kiba who's a sadist that takes pleasure in torturing her by bringing it up and a squealing Sakura(of course; count on Kiba to keep his mouth shut).

"Aw, come on," Kiba laughs, patting her head, "I'm just joking. Stop sulking!"

Hinata throws him the best death glare she can muster; Kiba laughs harder at that and Hinata sighs, dejected. "Stop it, Kiba-kun, it's not funny."

"But it is!"

"Is not!"

Kiba straightens up and clears his throat. "At least you're closer to your goal!"

"My goal?" Hinata asks. "What goal?"

"Your goal! Seducing Uzumaki Naruto!" Kiba exclaims before erupting into another fit of laughter.

Hinata feels like crying.

"Kiba, I would very much appreciate it if you stopped teasing my cousin," comes Neji's voice from behind them and Hinata jumps to her feet and wraps her arms around her cousin.

"Neji-niisan! You're home!"

Neji smiles down at her cousin. "I'm home."

Kiba doesn't know what to do with himself and when Neji looks down at him with a scrutinizing look he clears his throat. "Neji."

"Kiba."

"Here, Neji-nii, sit down," Hinata says, throwing another pillow onto the floor.

Neji sits down and watches her cousin with careful eyes. "What was that about? Seducing Naruto Uzumaki?"

Hinata shakes her head. "N-nothing!" The redness of her cheeks begs to differ.

"Hinata threw herself at Naruto!" Kiba exclaims instead and this time Hinata throws her napkin at him.

"I did not!" She counters, looking at her cousin. "I was really happy because Konan-san from The Art Academy of Amegakure said I should call her and she complimented my works and I was really happy, Neji-nii. So when N-naruto-kun came around I just—"

Neji nods understandingly and throws a death glare at Kiba, who instantly stops laughing. "That's great, Hinata. It means that you have a chance to study under her, am I right?" He adds.

Hinata nods, twiddling with her fingers.

"And about Naruto," Neji says and Hinata blushes furiously, shaking her head. "Don't worry too much about it, sometimes the right thing to do is to follow your instincts."

Hinata calms down after that and even Kiba stops teasing her about the hug(though Hinata suspects it's only because of Neji's presence).

.

_I need to act like a mature person_. Is what Hinata repeats in her head when she heads to the table where Naruto and Sakura are having lunch. Her heart is beating fast and her cheeks are turning hot and Hinata almost turns on her heels and runs away if not for Sakura calling her name. _Mature._

She smiles and sits down next to Sakura, opposite from Naruto. He grins at her but he's not looking at her and there's a faint trail of pink on his cheeks. It couldn't be, could it? Is Naruto _embarrassed?_

"Hinata-chan, look!" Sakura says, distracting her, showing her the finished scarf she had been knitting for Sasuke.

Hinata caresses the fine material and smiles. "I'm sure Sasuke-kun will like it."

"I hope so! For his sake!"

Hinata laughs, averting her eyes from the scarf and she catches Naruto looking at her. It's just a second before he looks away but Hinata is sure that he was looking at her. Naruto never avoids eye-contact, ever. This is the first time he looked away from her and if the pink tips of his ears that are poking out from his hair are any clue Hinata can deduce that he's embarrassed. Hinata managed to embarrass him! Now he won't want to have anything to do with her. _Good job, Hinata!_

"He's coming!" Naruto whispers and sakura hurries to hide the scarf in her satchel.

Naruto is the first one to leave the table. He still doesn't look at her.

"Don't worry about him," Sasuke tells Hinata who's eyes widen. "He's busy with his newest characters, it has nothing to do with you," he adds.

Hinata stares at him, dumbfounded. So even Sasuke found out.

.

Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto go back to Oto for Christmas and Hinata tries not to sulk too much. She would want to be with her family for Christmas too if she had the opportunity. But something unexpected happens. Sakura gives her a present, smiling and wishing her 'Merry Christmas' and Hinata feels really bad because she didn't know that they were exchanging gifts and she didn't buy anything for Sakura. Hinata opens the little package and inside she finds a blue bead bracelet with a little charm. She brings it closer so she can see and it's an elephant.

"It's not much," Sakura says, blushing a little and Hinata finds it endearing.

"It's very pretty, Sakura-chan!" Hinata assures. "Thank you! And merry Christmas!"

Sakura hugs her and kisses both her cheeks before running back to the car where Sasuke and Naruto are waiting. Naruto's head pops out. "Merry Christmas, Hinata! Take care!" He shouts and Hinata blushes because everyone is staring at them and she can't help it but smile back and wave.

Hinata spends Christmas alone(her grandmother is visiting a relative in Suna, Neji is with Ten-ten and Hanabi and her father most probably don't want to spend Christmas with the black sheep of the family). She watches her favorite movies and eat cinnamon rolls and turns on the lights on the small tree. It's not that Hinata doesn't like being alone is just that there is this empty feeling in her chest and she wishes Naruto were there. The phone starts to ring on the counter. It's Neji most probably, making sure that she's all right and as much as Hinata loves her cousin she doesn't want his concern right now. So she ignores the phone; it stops and the it starts ringing again. Hinata sighs, gets up from the couch and heads for the phone.

Her eyes widen and her lips part in shock. The letters on the screen read _Naruto_. Hinata's breath catches in her throat and a shiver runs down her spine. She slides her finger across the skin and presses the phone to her ear.

"N-naruto-kun?"

"_Hinata, thank god you answered!"_ His voice is different over the phone, deeper, manlier and Hinata can't help the blush that appears on her face. Good thing he can't see her.

"_Hinata you there?"_

"Y-yes," she stutters and it's _embarrassing._

"_Whatcha' doing?"_

"I'm watching the lights on the tree."

_"Cool."_

A pause and neither of them say anything. Hinata can hear his breathing over the phone and some background noises, most probably a TV and she's sure that her heart is in her stomach right now.

"Naruto-kun, shouldn't you be—" she pauses, trying to find the right words, "Shouldn't you be with your family right now?"

He laughs but Hinata can tell it's dry and fake. _"They couldn't make it. I'm eating ramen and watching cartoons right now."_ And his voice is a mixture of anger and hurt and Hinata wishes he was there so that she could wrap her arms around him(again).

"What about Sakura-chan and Sasuke-kun?"

_"Nah, didn't want to bother them with my ontological problems."_

Hinata laughs and she hears him laugh too. They talk about everything and nothing skilfully avoiding the topic family because it's obvious that neither of them want to talk about it and even though Hinata is dying to know about Naruto's parents she doesn't pry. She learns that Naruto's favorite color is blue(she thought it's orange) and that he's been friends with Sasuke since they were toddlers(their mothers were apparently good friends), that he likes ramen because his mother always carved ramen while she was pregnant with him, that he has a cat, old and grumpy with ginger fur that he named Kurama, that his favorite author is Dostoevsky and that his favorite book is The Karamazov Brothers, that he likes skying and that he just to catch frogs with Sasuke when they were children until he accidentally let a frog escape and jump into his mothers closet which led to frogs catching being a no-no activity for the hyperactive Naruto. He still ran after frogs with his godfather when he came to visit much to his mother's anger. She learned that the same godfather taught him to peek into the girls locker room; he got a broken nose when he tried to do it, courtesy of Sakura. He also got a black eye after using the 'You have such beautiful hair—Too bad it comes out of your nose' joke on Ino, Sakura's best friend. And maybe she would have found out more about him if she hadn't fallen asleep, still clothed and in an awkward position, waking up to sore muscles and second hand embarrassment. Hinata checks her phone; a new message from Naruto.

_Sorry for keeping you up. Merry Christmas!_

And Hinata wonders if it's strange that this is one of the best Christmas mornings she experienced.

.

Hinata spends New Years' Eve with Neji and Ten-Ten and she can help but feel like a third wheel. It's not that Hinata doesn't like spending time with them it's just that sometimes the look and the lovey-dovey stuff they do when they think she's not looking makes her think of Naruto and she misses him. When she finally gets back home, slumping under her comforter freshly showered with damp hair she feels relieved. The next days pass in slow motion, Hinata can't wait for classes to start again. She cleans her closet, rearranges her brushes on size, reads the books she's been dying to read and catches up on some much deserved sleep. Sakura calls her every day and Neji comes by but Naruto doesn't call and doesn't text anymore and Hinata is too shy to ask Sakura about him.

When Monday finally arrives and Hinata has to get ready for classes Hinata is like a hyperactive child. She smiles and even Deidara with his ever annoying personality can't wake her from his trance. Kiba waits for her and they head to the canteen together. Kiba keeps talking about his 'awesome' skying trip in Kirigakure; Hinata feels bad about listening to half of what he's saying. When they enter the canteen her eyes skim the crowd and she immediately spots the familiar blond hair.

When they reach the table Sakura jumps up and squeals, throwing her arms around Hinata. "I've missed you!" She says when she lets Hinata go.

"I've missed you too, Sakura-chan," Hinata answers and Sakura beams at her then motions to her to take a seat. Next to Naruto. Who is _smiling_(smiling, not grinning) at her, his blue eyes sparkling. Hinata feels her cheek turning hot but she takes the seat nevertheless.

For once Hinata is grateful that Kiba has such a loud mouth; he keeps the conversation flowing and because he speaks so much(and Sakura, and Naruto of course) she doesn't have to speak. Instead she take furitive glances at naruto, who is really _really _close to her(their thighs are brushing) and she sees that his freckles are not that visible anymore, which figures because freckles usually get darker in the warmer seasons. And his blond hair reflects the light so beautifully and he's too handsome and too close and Hinata thinks she might faint.

Sakura squeezes her fingers and grins; Hinata smiles back, embarrassed.

And it's a good day, even if she got to see Naruto for only twenty minutes. She at least saw him. And she walks around with a grin on her face all day, even at night when Neji comes to pick her up for dinner.

Hinata tells her cousin about it and Neji is truly happy for her and his advice and encouragement is all she needs.

"I'm glad you're happy, Hinata," Neji tells her when they walk out of the restaurant. "But don't forget you need to call Konan-san."

"Of course not, Neji-nii," Hinata assures. "Deidara-sensei told me I should call her next week because she's away right now because something urgent came up."

"I see." Neji says and he blinks up at the sky; there are no stars. "Hinata?"

"Yes, Neji-nii?"

"What would you say if I would marry Ten-Ten?"

Hinata's looks at Neji in disbelief. "Neji-nii!" She exclaims, stopping in her tracks. "That—that would be awesome!"

Neji sighs, relieved and fishes out a little box from his pocket. "Here," he says, handing it to Hinata who takes it into her hands and carefully opens it. A diamond shines back at her under the street light.

"It's—it's beautiful, Neji-nii," she breaths, inspecting the piece of jewelry closely. "I'm sure Ten-ten-chan'll love it."

"You think so?"

"I know so, Neji-nii!" Hinata assures, smiling.

"I had a hard ti—"

It happens so quickly that Hinata has no time to react. There's the screeching of wheels and in one moment Neji is standing right in front of her and the next he's not there anymore. Hinata hears a loud crashing sound and her head snaps to the left where the street lamp is flickering like a light in an asylum. She sees a car that crushed into the tree right behind the lamp and Neji is _not _in front of her. The box falls from her hands and Hinata rushes to the car. A man comes out, wobbly and Hinata sees there's blood all over his face.

"Sir!" She shouts, running to his side. "Are you all right, sir?"

The man looks at her, confused, holding his palm on the right side of his head on the source of the bleeding. "I'm f-fine," he says but Hinata doubts that. Her breathing is ragged and her heart is beating in her ears and she can't find Neji. She searches her bag and fishes out her phone; her hands are shaking and when she dials the emergency number her finger are trembling so hard that she fears she might press the wrong numbers. She looks around frantic and worried and she almost misses the moment the woman on the other line answers but she knows that she needs to keep her calm. She gives a brief description of what happened and the woman assures her that help is on the way. Hinata hangs up, looks to her left, to her right and behind her.

"Neji!" She shouts and her voice breaks at the end. Then she hears a cough and something that sounds awfully similar to her name. The sounds come from the front of the car.

_Please god, no!_

She runs over there and Neji is hunched over, only the upper half of his body visible.

"H-hinata," Neji says, blood spouting out of his mouth and spilling onto his long hair. Hinata moves the strands away from his face and smiles down at him.

"Hang on, Neji-nii, h-help is o-on the w-way," she tells him and she takes his hands, squeezing it her in her smaller one. Neji makes an effort to smile, more blood streaming out of his mouth and onto the hand that caresses his cheek.

Hinata looks down at her boots and she _knows _even though she can't see it clearly that there's a pool of his blood forming under her feet. Even if help does arrive it might—

_No, I mustn't think like that! Neji-nii's going to be just fine! Help is on the way! He's gonna be fine; I just need to keep him awake!_

"Neji-nii!" Hinata says and Neji opens his eyes but they are unfocused and Hinata is just a blur in front of him. "Neji-nii, don't close your eyes! Look at me, Neji-nii!"

And he's really trying to look at her but he's so tired and his eyelids are so heavy.

"Neji-nii, don't close your eyes," Hinata repeats and he can tell from the trembling in her voice that she's crying.

"Don't..."—another cough, more blood—"D-don't cry, H-hinata."

Hinata smiles at him and wipes away the tears, smearing blood on her cheeks. "I won't cry, Neji-nii, but you have to stay awake, all right?"

Neji moves his head, a nod maybe but it's really not a nod.

"Remember," Hinata says, swallowing down the lump in her throat, "Remember when we were young and you and Hanabi would—would always climb into the trees? You two always made me do it but I was so scared, Neji-nii. But you know what, it doesn't matter, I already forgave you, Neji-nii. You're always so kind to me and you always take care of me, so I forgave you."

Neji smiles, although it's pathetic. "S-step forward without hesitation," he says and Hinata can tell he's making an effort to keep talking—_living._ "Without fear, because you are strong, Hinata. You can achieve whatever you want."

"Yes, Neji-nii," Hinata says and she can't hold the tear back anymore. "But you'll have to be there to watch over me."

"Tell..."—more blood—"Ten-Ten, I love her."

Hinata hears the sirens. "You'll have to tell her yourself, Neji-nii. The doctors are on their way, almost here. Just a little longer, Neji-nii!"

But Neji's eyes are closing and his hand is limp in Hinata's. "Neji-nii!" Hinata cries and then she's dragged away and people are staring at her and her hands—her hands are dirty. She has to—has to get away. She doesn't know where she's heading to and the streets are empty and she doesn't know what to do.

It's cold and her hands are freezing; she shoves them into her pockets and she feels her phone.

She feels the outline and then she takes it out and stares at the screen for a few good moments before dialing.

"Naruto-kun?"

"_Hinata? What's wrong? Why are you calling so late?"_

"Naruto-kun," Hinata cries, wiping away at the tears on her cheeks. "N-naruto-kun—"

"_Hinata, what's wrong? Where are you? Are you crying?"_

"I don't know..."

"_Look around you, what do you see?"_

Hinata looks around and pink-flashing letters catch her eyes. "A-akimichi Bakery."

"_Wait there, okay? Don't move, I'm coming. Do not move."_

"Yes."

The lines goes dead and Hinata's hand falls to her side. She stares at the pink letter and they are so _pink and flashy_ and why are they so pink?

There is moisture on her cheeks and it's definitely not her tears.

It's _snow._

"It's snowing," she says but there's no one there to hear her.

Hinata watches the snowflakes fall to the ground and the letters are shiny and pink and Hinata can't – _won't_—think of anything.

"Hinata!" Someone calls from behind and it's a familiar voice and Naruto appears in front of her and he's panting and his eyes are wild and Hinata wants to ask him why he's looking so strained but the words get caught up in her throat and before she realizes what's happening her knees buckle and she's falling.

"I've got you," Naruto tells her and his voice is soft and soothing like honey and he's carrying her like a child and he puts her down in a car and she wants to scream and shout and tell him that she's not riding in _that _thing but she can't because her body feels so foreign and she closes her eyes.

She needs to sleep, sleep will make everything better.

* * *

a/n: whoops, i did something

I apologize! I am sorry! But it had to be done. And omg what is this? an update? yes it is! I'm sorry.. this chapter started off so prettily, I know.. this is almost 10 pages worddoc!whoops again.

REVIEW! please~?and thank you again all of you who have been kind enough to review!3

Love ya all!:3


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